Abstract [en]

Insecurity as Critical Necessity. Sovereign Research Subjects, the Concept of Excellence and the Importance of Negative Emotions in Academia

The article explore the operations of emotions of insecurity, shame, vulnerability and ambivalence in the context of the neoliberal academia of today and it’s focus on excellence, competition and constant self-evaluations. Maria Jönsson and Anna Rådström investigate what these ”negative” emotions do (Ahmed 2004)in relation to a concept such as “excellence”. They discuss how these “doings” can be understood and how they relate to questions of power and hierarchy. Jönsson and Rådström suggest that emotions of vulnerability and inadequacy in research should not be seen as something to be overcome, but rather as something to engage with and pay attention to. These emotions provide us with a sensitivity to research as an open process, open to the unexpected and the “not-yet” (Sedgwick 2003) instead of producing “knowingness” (Scheman 2011) and sovereign research subjects. Jönsson and Rådström utilize the theoretical work of Hélène Cixous and of Judith Butler (2003) in order to discuss how insecurity and ambivalence can be used in self-reflexive and critical work in academia.